The Real Reason NPR Fired Juan Williams: His Views on Race (Updated)

Is a man who wrote the narrative for the prize-winning PBS civil right series Eyes on the Prize (and a person long associated with that movement) really the man to fire because his current ideas challenge those of the NAACP and the present-day black establishment? Moreover, a few years ago, Williams penned the politically incorrect and courageous book titled Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America -- and What We Can Do About It. The title alone tells you all you need to know about what Juan Williams thinks about this issue. The book was praised by the likes of John McWhorter and Thomas Sowell, not two black intellectuals the left-wing and the Julian Bond civil rights establishment generally hold in any kind of good regard.

I was not surprised to see Williams move in that direction. Many years ago, I sat with him on a panel held in Washington, D.C., called “Second Thoughts About Race in America.” It was put together by conservatives Peter Collier and David Horowitz. At that time, Williams did not have the point of view he has now, but simply to appear at the conference alongside me and another unorthodox black intellectual, Julius Lester, said a great deal about his integrity.

I imagine, as ombudswoman Shepard hinted at, there were many leftist NPR listeners who simply did not like what Williams said on NPR, and who never watched him on Fox News. She mentions some 378 listener e-mails complaining about him. That is not a large number, and I suspect they served as a warning to liberal NPR bosses to be on the lookout for an excuse to get rid of him.

So, let me conclude with a simple question. When will NPR listeners who continually complain about the right-wing bias of Fox put the pressure on their network of choice to allow honest dissent from their own contributors? Or does liberalism today mean that only acceptable leftist positions are allowed on NPR?

My comments on "The O’Reilly Factor" are being distorted by the self-righteous ideological, left-wing leadership at NPR. They are taking bits and pieces of what I said to go after me for daring to have a conversation with leading conservative thinkers. They loathe the fact that I appear on Fox News. They don’t notice that I am challenging Bill O’Reilly and trading ideas with Sean Hannity. In their hubris they think by talking with O’Reilly or Hannity I am lending them legitimacy. Believe me, Bill O’Reilly (and Sean, too) is a major force in American culture and politics whether or not I appear on his show.

Williams, who is the model of an honest centrist liberal, understands fully that NPR is run by ideological leftists, and is as much an opinion leader for the Left as Fox News is for conservatives. Moreover, it was reported on the news tonight that the head of NPR news made it clear that over the years, they have felt Williams had crossed the line when he expressed opinions on other matters. Neither of them said what their particular differences with Williams were about. I suspect, again, that it had to do with his blunt statements on race, as well as the book he published about it.

Kudos to Juan Williams for this brave letter of explanation, and for not backing down. Can we soon expect to hear support for him from at least some of his former NPR colleagues? Don't hold your breath.